Saving Face
by Amme Moto
Summary: A wounded Kalisee Shepard just wants to relax and finish healing from her near-death experience on the suicide mission. Too bad nothing ever goes the way Shepard wants it to. Post ME2.
1. With You

**Saving Face**

**Chapter One: With You**

_Two days after Horizon:_

Shepard,

I'm sorry for what I said back on Horizon. I spent two years pulling myself back together after you went down with the Normandy. It took me a long time to get over my guilt for surviving and move on. I'd finally let my friends talk me into going out for drinks with a doctor on the Citadel. Nothing serious, but trying to let myself have a life again, you know?

Then I saw you, and everything pulled hard to port. You were standing in front of me, but you were with Cerberus. I guess I really don't know who either of us is anymore. Do you even remember that night before Ilos? That night meant everything to me… maybe it meant as much to you. But a lot has changed in the last two years and I can't just put that aside.

But please be careful. I've watched too many people close to me die—on Eden Prime, on Virmire, on Horizon, on the Normandy. I couldn't bear it if I lost you again. If you're still the woman I remember, I know you'll find a way to stop these Collector attacks. But Cerberus is too dangerous to be trusted. Watch yourself.

When things have settled down a little… maybe… I don't know. Just take care.

Kaidan.

**XXXXX**

_Two weeks after Horizon:_

Shepard,

I realize you're angry with me. That's probably why you haven't replied to any of my messages. I wish you'd reply, though, if only to yell at me. At least that way I'll know if you're alive or not. The rumors flying around that you're at this planet or that planet are just that: rumors. I don't know what's true and what's not.

Please, say something. I haven't heard a word from you.

**XXXXX**

_One month after Horizon:_

Shepard,

I must have messed up badly. You aren't replying to my messages. I don't know if you're not getting them or if you're just deleting them. Do you read these before you throw them away?

But that doesn't sound like you, Shepard. You aren't the type to give the silent treatment. At least, I hope not.

Please say something. It doesn't have to be nice. It doesn't even have to be long. Just let me know you're still breathing. There are so many things out to get you; not all of them are other people.

They say Nassana Dantius has been killed. We took out her sister, remember? Of course you remember. You were so livid you punched her in the face. Her towers were completely destroyed. Some of the salarian survivors talked about a group of three coming out of nowhere and saving them from death. Said all they had to do was follow the trail of mercenary bodies out.

That sure sounds like you. What happened to the assassin, though? Is he part of your squad now?

Please, say something. I'm getting leave in a few months. If you haven't replied before then, I'm coming to find you.

**XXXXX**

_Three months after Horizon:_

Kaidan,

Dear Lord, Kaidan. When I finally hacked into Kelly's terminal, I was looking for random Collector information that the Illusive Man might have given her, being my yeoman. The last thing I expected was to find forty-plus messages from _you_. It's a good thing she feeds my fish; otherwise I would toss her out the airlock as soon as we get her back from the Collectors.

I must seem like a jerk. I'm sorry for not replying to any of your messages. Kelly forwarded your first message to me, and I could have _sworn _I replied to it, but apparently you never got it. As a matter of fact, I've sent you messages a few times after that. _Damn it_, it looks like you didn't get those either.

That just makes this harder.

I'm going to resend my other messages from Kelly's account so the Illusive Man can't block them, but some things have happened since the last one. I need to recap on some things.

Kaidan, I… don't think this is going to work. God, this is incredibly low, saying this by the extranet, but I need to get this out, and if I die in the next twenty-four hours you still need to know. Look, you are completely loyal to the Alliance. I get that. I lived with Anderson for about a year after the attack on Mindoir, so I know what total devotion looks like. But… I'm not. I'm not even completely loyal to the Council; though that's not so surprising considering how they like to throw me to the wolves so much. I'm loyal to the galaxy, and the preservation of everything that's been built in the last 50,000 years. Sometimes that means allying with the Alliance, sometimes that means allying with Cerberus.

This doesn't mean I agree with Cerberus in any way. If the Illusive Man thinks I'm his pet varren, he's got another thing coming.

I'm running out of time, and I'm getting off topic. Forgive me, but I need to say this as bluntly as possible. There's no going back for us, Kaidan. We're too different. It's been two years. You moved on, and I finally have, too.

I don't have much time. Literally. The Collectors think we're such a threat that they've attacked us from behind. My entire crew is gone. Doctor Chakwas, Kelly, even the engineers and Mr. Gardner, the cook. The only one left is Joker.

They've pissed me off. I'm tired of waiting for something to happen. We're going after them. Right _now_. We'll hit the Omega 4 relay in a little more than two hours.

So goodbye. This might be the last time I ever get to say anything to you. I want you to know that what we had was real while it lasted, and what's happened since I was resurrected is definitely not what I'd planned to do with my life.

Maybe we'll meet again, someday.

Kalisee.

**XXXXX**

Liara tapped at her terminal aimlessly, staring blankly at the words scrolling across the screen. She knew she should be reading the information, but she just couldn't concentrate that well. She _knew _she should have taken the day off, but she just couldn't bring herself to. Every minute she spent relaxing was another minute the Shadow Broker gained against her.

But still, concentrating on the new bits of intel she'd gathered was hard work. Especially now. She was just so _relieved_.

She'd nearly panicked a few days ago, when Commander Shepard's message came to her in the middle of the night. She'd been incredibly blunt, and that's probably what had scared Liara the most: Shepard had been completely at ease with dying.

"_If I don't send another letter in at least two days, I'm not going to."_

Those words had frightened her beyond belief. Thoroughly distracted, Liara had spent the whole night (and most of the next day) glued to her computer, waiting for some sort of reply.

Finally she'd gotten one, but not from Kalisee Shepard. It had been from Doctor Chakwas. It had taken Liara an hour to actually read the message; she'd been so sure that the doctor was telling her that Shepard was dead.

Then she'd finally read the message—only about four lines, really—and nearly smacked herself in the head for overreacting.

"_Commander Shepard is alive and well. We were concerned for her survival for quite some time, but she is just as always. Thane Krios will not let her go anywhere until we reach the Citadel, so she asked me to write to you and tell you she was alive."_

Liara felt herself smile. Thane Krios. The assassin Shepard had asked Liara about. She _knew _she'd felt something between them the last time they'd appeared. How wonderful. She was incredibly happy for the Commander. She deserved someone to care for her properly, after—

"Dr. T'Soni," Liara's new assistant, a busybody salarian named Illoa, poked his head inside her office. "There's someone to see you."

Liara frowned. "I don't recall having any appointments today."

The young alien shook his head. "No, ma'am. This human just barged in and asked to see you. He claims to know you personally."

Liara shook her head. "I need a name, Illoa."

Illoa was pulled from the doorway and Liara glared at the man taking her assistant's place.

"Staff Commander Kaidan Alenko, Liara."

Liara felt her biotic power rising without her permission. She pushed it back down. "Take a seat. How may I help you, Commander?"

"I need to find Commander Shepard." Kaidan stated, seating himself across from Liara and leaning forward. "I need to know if she's still alive."

"And what makes you think _I _know?"

Kaidan snorted. "You're an information broker, Liara. Not to mention one of Shepard's best friends. Please. I need to know if she came back alive."

Liara found herself smirking at the words "came back". He might not be completely clueless, then. "What do you know?"

Kaidan ran a hand through his hair. "She'd been sending me messages all this time, and I never got them. Then, a few days ago, I get all of them at once, starting with her newest letter, saying she was going to go through the Omega 4 relay, and she probably wasn't going to survive."

Liara cringed. "I got much the same message."

The hope that sprung into Kaidan's eyes was painful. "Liara, you've got to tell me if she's okay. The last time we talked, I said some stupid things, and—"

"Yes, I know what you said to her." Liara snapped. "There's no need to go into detail."

"Liara, you've got to tell me where she is." Kaidan pleaded. "We need to clear the air between us. I don't know what's going to happen, but it _needs _to happen, because I can't live with this indecision, and I don't think she can either."

Liara tapped her thumb on the table a few times in thought. "Yes," she decided. "It probably _would _be good to get everything straightened out."

_Especially considering Kaidan hasn't thought to throw Krios into the picture yet._

"What do you know?" Kaidan asked, leaning forward and giving all his attention to the asari.

Liara sighed. "I don't know the whole story. I know she's alive—" She ignored Kaidan's incredibly relieved sigh at this, "—and heading for the Citadel. Their ship was damaged pretty badly and they need to make repairs."

Kaidan stood and nodded, that determined look on his face irking Liara. "Thank you, Liara."

"Wait a moment, Commander." Liara held up a hand. "All information comes at a price."

The Alliance soldier frowned. "What do you want?"

"Did Shepard mention anything about your relationship with each other?"

Kaidan glared. "That isn't your business."

"But you're going to tell me."

"I don't see why I should." Kaidan crossed his arms and tried to glare down Liara. It wouldn't work, of course; Liara had faced many people more intimidating than Kaidan. Finally, he relented and rolled his eyes. "She said we'd grown apart. That there was no going back for us."

Liara nodded sagely. "Maybe you should listen to her."

Kaidan didn't reply. He shook his head and walked off.

Liara shrugged and went back to her computer. Suddenly she felt like working.

**XXXXX**

Commander Kalisee Shepard crossed her arms over her brand-new black T-shirt, courtesy of Miranda's latest shopping escapade, glaring at the doctor. She would have crossed her legs to look more defiant, but she was sitting on the medbay table, and crossing her legs would hurt her more than she was willing to risk to make her point. "I don't want to use those."

Doctor Chakwas sighed and held the crutches out. "Commander, it's either use these and get around on your own, or sit in the wheelchair and have someone push you."

Kallie puffed. No way she'd let someone drive her around the Citadel all day. "I'd rather do neither."

The doctor pinned Shepard in place with a hard stare. "Then you'll stay on the ship where we can watch you."

Kallie pursed her lips. Before she could think of a suitable comeback, Thane sidled up to her.

"Perhaps it would be best to listen to the doctor, _siha_." Thane advised. A hint of a smirk lined his lips. "If only this once."

Kallie groaned. "God, _fine_." She snatched the crutches from the doctor and rested them underneath her arms, supporting her weight. "I'm not going to be able to wear my armor while using these, you know."

"I wouldn't worry about being attacked on the Citadel." Chakwas grinned. "You look just as intimidating as ever, Commander."

Thane nodded his thanks to the doctor and tugged at Shepard, easily keeping up with her as she used the crutches to propel herself out of the medbay.

"Shall I remind you that your armor is little more than shrapnel now?" The drell asked conversationally as he patiently waited for Shepard to gain control of her crutches.

The Commander rolled her eyes. "Hush, you." She finally managed to swing herself into the elevator. She grumbled under her breath as Thane pressed the correct button. She watched the elevator doors close and released her hold on the crutches, leaning against the wall and ignoring the stabbing pain in the stomach, warning her to _get off of her legs_. "This is going to be a long day."

Thane reached out and hit the _STOP _button on the elevator. At Shepard's bewildered look, he sidled up next to her and pressed her against the elevator wall. "There is nothing wrong with staying on the _Normandy_, _siha_." He stated.

Kallie bit her lower lip at the sudden heat bubbling in her gut. She shook her head to rid her mind of its fuzzy haze and replied as if she'd been expecting this kind of rebuttal. "I've been cooped up in this ship for three days. _Three days_. We've been on the Citadel that long and I've yet to go see Anderson. He probably thinks I hate him and that I'm ignoring him by now."

Kallie pointedly ignored the fact that Anderson probably thought that _anyway_, based on their last conversation where Shepard had accused Anderson of sending Kaidan to spy on her _after _she'd been to see him. He hadn't denied it, and their voices had escalated very quickly afterward. Their argument finally ended with Shepard biting her tongue to keep from lashing out. She'd ended up storming out with a bewildered Thane and an equally angry Garrus trailing behind her. She'd completely ignored the Councilor's calls for her to come back.

Come to think of it, she'd also totally ignored the rest of his messages from then on. She didn't even think she'd had the time—or the forethought—to warn him of their impending escapade through the Omega 4 relay. How cruel was it that she'd told Kaidan—who had probably stopped expecting any sort of communication for a while—and had glanced right over the man who'd kept her alive for a full year after the attack on Mindoir—the man who had faithfully sent a message to her every day in the hopes that she would reply?

Maybe he'd stopped looking for her to answer, too. Kallie knew herself too well to think she hadn't burned a bridge or two. It as something she was good at doing, even before the batarians had come and destroyed her life. Maybe Anderson had finally moved on from thinking she'd want to talk to him again.

Maybe it was too late.

Thane leaned forward and pressed his lips to the corner of the Commander's mouth. She blinked in surprise and sucked in a deep breath, focusing on him and his concerned stare.

"You went away again." Thane stated. "I apologize. I meant to shift your focus back to the present, not to startle you."

Kallie let out a shaky breath. She leaned her forehead against Thane's chest and inhaled slowly. "No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that."

Thane tilted the Commander's head back up with a crooked finger, and she found herself looking into his eyes. Their noses touched, and the Commander had to work to keep her eyes from crossing as she kept eye contact. "Allow me to give you a reason to stay in the present."

Thane's lips were inches from Shepard's own. She swallowed nervously. "What kind of reason?"

All she had in answer was Thane's knowing smirk before he snatched her lips in a kiss.

Shepard's gasp was quickly smothered by a moan as she leaned into Thane. Her hands reached for his jacket and gripped it tightly, trying to pull him closer. Thane complied, resting his hands lightly on her hips—always keeping her injury in mind—and moving closer. Kallie felt weightless, and even the pain in her stomach seemed to ebb.

Then Thane stepped back again, a smirk gracing his features as he pushed the elevator button again and it resumed its path to the second floor.

Kallie clutched her crutches tightly, shifting them back under her arms and leaning on them heavily. She cleared her throat and tried not to look embarrassed as the elevator doors opened.

From the outside of the elevator, Garrus crossed his arms and smirked. "I was wondering if the elevator was ever going to make it up here."

Thane's reply matched his own smirk. "We apologize. The elevator was giving us some trouble."

Garrus' eyes glinted. "_Right_." He glanced over at the flushed Kallie and his expression changed. "Crutches? Will that really work?"

"My legs aren't actually _hurt_, Garrus." Shepard explained a bit tersely. "But putting too much weight on them for too long hurts like hell. So if I want to go out today, it's crutches for me."

"Really?" Garrus replied. "Are you sure you want to come with us, then? I'm sure Thane and I can take along Miranda to find you some armor."

Shepard shuddered. "That's not going to happen. It'll come back skin-tight and see-through. Watch."

Garrus laughed. Shepard shook her head and continued. "Besides, I've been on this ship far too long. I need to talk to actual _people_."

Thane chuckled. "I'm sure that did not mean to come out as an insult."

Kallie coughed into her hand. "So, let's get going." The Commander propelled herself forward, past Garrus and Thane, into the airlock—_firmly ignoring _the amused chuckles and hidden faces as she mishandled her crutches and ended up sliding forward or tripping over something. "It's time for me to get _off _this ship!"

As they were waiting for the airlock to open, Thane sidled up to Kallie's side and leaned close to her ear. In a breathy whisper he stated, "Now that I think of it, I might not mind your wearing _that_ kind of armor, _siha_."

Kallie swallowed and felt her face heat up.

**XXXXX**

Kallie tapped her crutches nervously against the ground as the elevator began its long ascent to the Presidium. This was the first time she would be talking to the Captain in _months_, since they hadn't ended their last conversation too well.

Garrus sighed beside her as Kallie kept tapping the ground. "As rhythmic as you are, Shepard, you're going to drive me crazy."

Kallie shrugged sheepishly, stilling her crutches. "Sorry. Nerves."

"You should relax, Commander." Thane insisted. "Things will go fine."

"I feel so _bare _without my armor on." Kallie complained, scratching nervously at her hair. She rubbed her knees together experimentally and made a face.

"Garrus and I shall stand by and take down any potential threats that have made it past C-Sec Ward Security, Presidium bio-scanning, and Alliance personnel instinct to make it to a Councilor's office."

Garrus laughed behind them.

"Come on, Thane." Kallie smiled sweetly at him. "_You _could have gotten through all that."

"Of course I could have." Thane agreed. "But _they _are not _me_."

Kallie chuckled softly and returned to her tapping. Thane reached out and linked his fingers with hers, giving a light squeeze.

The gesture did more for Kallie than the repartee. Her wildly beating pulse finally slowed to regular levels. She took a deep breath, suddenly feeling not as nervous as before.

Kallie gave a genuine smile at the encouragement and tightened her hold on his hand, not releasing her grip until the elevator came to a stop and the doors opened.

After walking (or in Shepard's case, _swinging_) for a bit Kallie finally found herself at Anderson's door. Her hand hesitated on the knob. Apprehension filled Kallie's stomach, staying her hand at the last minute.

What the hell was she doing? What if Anderson wanted nothing to do with her anymore? Not only had she been working for Cerberus—the same organization that not only ripped apart Shepard's own team on Akuze, but killed Admiral Kahoku, one of Anderson's good friends—but she'd literally screamed at him the last time she'd come here, accusing him (rightfully, she might add) of sending Kaidan off to spy on her.

She'd been an ungrateful little brat the year she'd spent with him on the _Adrastos_, and she'd never really made it easy for him to look after her, given her magnetism to trouble.

Who was she fooling? Councilor Anderson wouldn't want anything to do with her anymore. She shouldn't have come here. She should have just—

A hand settled gently on her shoulder, jostling her out of her own head. Thane looked at her worriedly. "You went away again. Is something wrong?"

Kallie shook her head. "Sorry. I need to stop doing that. Nerves, I guess."

"We can go do something else, you know." Garrus suggested. "And come back later."

"No," Kallie shook her head, still staring at the door separating her from her surrogate father. "I just feel like a kid who did something terrible in school, so the school called my parents and now I have to go 'fess up."

She could practically _feel _Garrus' puzzled frown. "You're going to have to explain that one to me."

Thane's hand on her shoulder tightened, but he didn't speak until Kallie turned her bright green eyes toward him. "_Siha_, we are with you."

Kallie closed her eyes and nodded. She took one last breath and opened the door into Anderson's office.

Councilor David Anderson sat at his desk facing toward the door, arguing quietly with someone over a private comm. link. At the sound of the door opening the man glanced up to wave off the people coming to disturb him before returning to his conversation.

Then he did a double-take. His eyes widened and his jaw dropped, effectively multiplying Shepard's nerves by one thousand. She shuffled her crutches awkwardly under her arms and scratched at the back of her head.

Anderson's gaze didn't move from Shepard. He pressed a button on his screen as if he'd memorized where it was and spoke. "Representative Omarr, I'm going to have to get back to you." Without waiting for a reply he turned off the comm. link and stood.

Kallie found herself slumping her shoulders and backing herself up; something she found very complicated to accomplish on crutches. "I'm sorry. You're busy. I should have called ahead, or at least emailed you to see if you were free. I'm sorry. I'll—"

A large pair of arms encircled Shepard and tugged her forward. Anderson pulled her into a tight embrace. She stood stock-still, completely unsure of what to do next.

"_Kalisee_." Anderson pulled her closer, the relief evident in his voice.

That did it. Kallie threw her arms around Anderson. "I'm _sorry_, Anderson. Really I am."

"Sorry?" Anderson repeated, pulling back and looking his charge over. "Shepard, I'm just glad you're all right; I had no way of knowing what you were doing or where you were going. What _happened _to you? Why are you in crutches?"

Kallie realized that she couldn't hold back a grin. Shrugging guiltily, she cleared her throat and tried not to think about all the other times she'd had to explain her mischief to him. "We _might _have gone through the Omega 4 relay recently."

She could hear the two amused chuckles behind her and chose to ignore them. 

Besides, Kallie wanted to watch Anderson assimilate that information. Even when she was an angry, irritable teenager trying to survive the aftermath of Mindoir, Kallie always enjoyed watching Anderson's face change from curious to disapproving.

She wasn't disappointed. Anderson frowned, then glared at the redhead. "You _what_? Shepard, that's—" He stopped himself and took a deep breath to steady his thoughts. Then he motioned toward his desk and the chairs situated about it. "Why don't you start from the beginning? Come, sit, all of you. We've got all day."

Yes, Kalisee Shepard was definitely glad she'd gone out today.

**XXXXX**

**Finally I get the first chapter out, huh? Well, I can already tell you that this is going to be five chapters long. Maybe four if I can't squeeze out that last chapter. And yes, there's going to be more ThaneXShepard in it than there was in this chapter. I had to start somewhere, though. xP**

**Stay close, Shrios fans! There shall be more to come!**

**Also, please please **_**please **_**go to my profile and vote on the Shepard you want to see survive ****Running as Fast as I Can****. I've updated that one recently, too, so I'm hoping my bout of Writer's Block has finally gone away.**

**Ciao!**

_**Amme Moto**_


	2. Reunion

**Saving Face**

**Chapter Two: Reunion**

Kaidan Alenko exited the transport and surveyed the Citadel. It had been many months since he'd been back to the giant space station, and he immediately turned around and took stock of the changes.

Security had definitely gone up. There were now two guards watching the entrance in addition to the woman behind the counter. As Kaidan passed through the check–out hallway and chatted amicably with the turian standing in front of the sealed door standing between Kaidan and the bulk of the Citadel, he noticed how amped up they'd made the sensors. Kaidan looked up when he felt the eerie sensation of being scanned and examined the new equipment. They'd added X-Ray and infrared sensors to their arsenal, instead of relying on just mechanical energy stemming from geth and other mechanical monsters.

It made Kaidan chuckle under his breath. For the first time in a while, he felt slightly intimidated about causing any trouble on the Citadel.

As he entered the main section of the Zakera Ward of the Citadel, Kaidan made a point to stop at the captain's desk. The Citadel was a big place, so Shepard could have been anywhere. Kaidan figured starting at the C-Sec office was a good idea; all private ships were required to dock at the Zakera Ward port, so there was a very good chance Shepard's ship was close.

Not to mention the fact that destruction and trouble seemed to follow Shepard. If she were on the Citadel, C-Sec would surely know about it.

Kaidan faced the man sitting at the desk—a blonde, stern-looking man with all of his concentration focused on the datapad in front of him—and wondered how to gain the man's attention. Clearing the throat was incredibly rude in Kaidan's opinion. He'd just decided to ignore the man and flag down one of his subordinates when a different alien than Kaidan had ever seen cleared his throat.

"Captain," The scaly, green-colored alien called. Even his voice sounded deep and rough, making Kaidan shudder. "I have the reports you asked for."

The captain glanced up at the alien briefly and took the pads from the alien. "Thanks, son. I have a few more things I need you to—" The captain's attention diverted as he finally snapped his attention onto Kaidan. He took one look at Kaidan's military-grade armor and stuck out his hand.

"Captain Owen Bailey. How may I help you?" The captain asked as Kaidan shook his hand. He motioned for Kaidan to take the seat in front of him with his free hand.

Kaidan put on his formal face and gave a small smile. "Staff Commander Kaidan Alenko. It's nice to meet you, captain." Kaidan took the proffered seat and leaned back comfortably.

The alien straightened next to Captain Bailey and looked between the two expectantly. Bailey glanced up at the boy and narrowed his eyes in thought. Then he turned to Kaidan and jabbed a finger in the alien's direction. "This is Kolyat, one of our new interns here at C-Sec. He's a drell."

Oh, a drell! He'd heard of drell, but he'd never seen one before. Suddenly interested in the boy, Kaidan politely took the drell's hand as well. "Pleased to meet you."

The captain gave a satisfied smirk and sat back in his chair. "Now, what can we do for you today?"

"I'm looking for someone."

Captain Bailey frowned. "Well they sure picked a swell spot to hide; it'll take days to search the entire Citadel. You looking for a criminal or something?"

At this Kaidan shook his head. "No. An acquaintance that's gone missing. I heard from a reliable source that she's docked here for the moment. I'd like the chance to find her before she wanders off again."

"Sounds like you'd better get started." Bailey suggested. "We'll run her name through our databases and check the last time she popped up on any of the ward transports. Who are you looking for?"

Kaidan felt his nerves flare up, as they always did when forced to mention Kalisee Shepard, and he scratched the back of his head. "Commander Shepard."

Kaidan couldn't understand why Kolyat's eyes suddenly widened to impressive proportions, or why Captain Bailey suddenly burst into laughter, or why it took him well over a minute to catch his breath.

**XXXXX**

Many hours later saw Shepard, Garrus, and Thane seated across from Anderson, talking amicably about their latest escapade. Anderson sat through the telling of their suicide mission with an unreadable expression, but that didn't worry Kallie. She knew he would save his reaction until she'd finished her story.

"So we killed the Human Reaper before it became a fully-fledged Reaper and set the Collector base to explode." She gave a half-shrug. "Then the actual Reaper we'd been fighting against, Harbinger, set the rest of the Collectors onto us and we ran for our lives."

Anderson shook his head at her pause. "That's no ending, Shepard. How did you injure yourself?"

At this Kallie scratched the back of her head and looked a bit embarrassed. She flexed her hand nervously, feeling a bit odd that she wasn't at least wearing gloves. "While we were running for the _Normandy_, one of the Collectors blasted a hole through my armor and a good portion of my abdomen."

Anderson's eyes widened. "_What_?"

Kallie held up a defensive hand. "Don't look so alarmed, Anderson. It was a superficial wound. But it set off a severe allergic reaction that almost killed me."

Kallie waited for a few moments to gauge Anderson's reaction. She glanced around at the two men on either side of her. Garrus glanced quickly back and forth from her and Anderson, interested in the conversation but polite enough not to interrupt. On her other side, Thane sat with one leg crossed over the other, looking apparently at ease. His constant checks of the room and quick looks around him, however, showed that he was more interested in keeping the room secure.

Before she could nudge Thane and try to bring his concentration back to the present, Anderson began laughing.

Kallie swung on him, eyebrows raised in an incredulous look. Anderson held up one hand defensively and wrapped the other around his ribcage. His wrinkling eyes were shut tightly and he leaned forward onto his desk.

Kallie gave a haughty huff, but his laughter was a bit contagious. She couldn't help but crack a small smile. "Your concern is touching."

"I'm sorry, Kallie. It's just—" He stopped to catch his breath. Kallie deigned not to mention that he'd just called her by her actual name, and not by his typical "Shepard". "The irony of such a thing is amusing, you must admit. The only person in the galaxy both capable and willing to fight these creatures off from everyone is _allergic _to their weapons."

Thane came out of his routine checks of the room to give a small chuckle. "That is exactly what _she _said."

That sent Anderson off laughing again. "Oh, but I am glad you're alive, Shepard." He finally spoke. "So you came here for repairs to the Normandy?"

Garrus fielded this question. "We started off gathering parts from Omega, but there are only so many hand-me-down products our engineers are willing to use. We had to come here for the quality goods."

Shepard shrugged, crossing her arms and leaning back in her chair. Both actions sent stabs of pain up her stomach. She winced and returned to her previous position.

Thane noticed. His gaze shifted from the door to Shepard. Shepard could see him contemplating whether or not he should escort her back to the ship. She shifted nervously in her seat and felt another jolt of pain. His eyes narrowed, and Shepard could tell his decision was made. He uncrossed his legs and leaned forward.

Time to go, then. Shepard braced herself and stood uneasily. "Actually, I need some new armor. My old set was blown to pieces."

Not a moment after she stood her crutches were handed to her. She placed them under her arms and looked sheepishly at Anderson. "I get to look like a civilian for a while until I get all healed up."

"And it's about time, too." Anderson replied, standing and holding out his hand. Shepard shook it warmly. "You've spent years hiding behind your armor. A week or two without it will probably do you a lot of good."

Shepard wasn't so sure. She felt too unprotected when she went into public unarmed. Still, she flashed him a weak smile and placated him. "I'm sure it'll be different, at least."

She could feel Thane tugging at her sleeve. She bid Anderson goodbye, and he promised to visit on the _Normandy _before they left.

As the elevator doors closed behind her and her team, Shepard finally let out the breath she'd been holding. That had gone much better than she'd expected. She knew she shouldn't have been so nervous; she and Anderson had had much worse arguments over the years, and they always made up afterward. Shepard made a mental note to herself: She really had to start trusting Anderson more.

"Feel better now, Commander?" Garrus asked from behind her.

"Actually, yes." Shepard replied. "Yes I do. As a matter of fact, I feel well enough to go armor shopping."

"Is there anything else you want to do today?" Garrus replied.

Kallie thought about it. "What I really need are some gloves."

She examined her right hand suspiciously and flexed it. It pulled tightly like always; a large star-shaped scar in the palm of her hand—a burn mark from using a faulty omnitool too many times in the past—ran along her hand. She'd just grown used to wearing clothes that covered her scars. Long sleeves, full length pants, and gloves were all necessities. Even after Cerberus brought her back from the dead, and a good portion of her old scars were gone, she never once broke her attire habits.

But of course her gloves had gone the way of her armor. Spare clothes she had plenty of; her gloves had been one of a kind.

"We shall see if we can find some." Thane promised. He leaned in close to Shepard and whispered in her ear, "I am glad you are feeling better, _siha_."

So was she.

**XXXXX**

A content Shepard swung down the Citadel a few hours later. Armor shopping had gone swimmingly. The shop owner had been all-too excited for Commander Shepard to walk into his store, and he'd spent all his time making sure she had exactly what she needed. He'd even given her a discount because she bought top-of-the-line, quality items.

He'd even thrown in three pairs of gloves for free. But she knew that was more than coincidence; she'd seen Thane talking with the shop owner while she was discussing armor differences with Garrus.

But now she certainly felt better with gloves on her hands and new armor to unpack on the ship. Next to her, Garrus carried a large package in his hands that held her new protection. Shepard had felt embarrassed at first for having to make Garrus carry her things for her, but he didn't seem to care. She couldn't carry her own armor _and _swing around on the crutches, and they weren't going to let her fully put it on until she was fully healed and ready to head back into the fray.

Still… "Garrus, are you sure you're all right with carrying that?"

Garrus groaned. "Of course, Commander. Your human armor barely weighs anything."

Kallie let out an outraged scoff. "That's heavy armor!"

"Oh, that's cute." Garrus replied. "Don't worry so much, Shepard. I offered to carry it."

"It's time to head back to the ship, Shepard." Thane said from beside her. "Doctor Chakwas will be growing worried."

Shepard frowned and glanced at a nearby clock. "We've been out all day!" She hadn't even realized. "I should probably get in touch with her."

Shepard pressed her comm. link into her ear. She saw Thane and Garrus do the same so they could listen in. "Doctor Chakwas?"

There was static on the other side for a moment, then: _"Shepard! Thank goodness you're all right."_

Kallie frowned. "Of course I'm all right. Is something wrong?"

"_No. Nothing's wrong at all, Shepard. Everything's as fine ever."_

Shepard frowned, glancing over at her two friends to gauge their reactions as well. Thane and Garrus were thinking the same thing Shepard was: Doctor Chakwas _never _addressed Shepard with just her surname. The two aliens began discreetly glancing around.

Shepard decided to continue the conversation. "Well… we were checking in to tell you we were on the way back."

"_Very well. Miranda is sending Kasumi to meet you."_

Okay, now something was definitely wrong. Kallie could feel her spine tingle. She assured Doctor Chakwas they would be there as soon as possible and disconnected.

"What do you think happened?" Garrus asked.

"I'm not sure." Shepard replied. "Maybe the ship is being watched?"

"Maybe someone has realized that you're injured and is hoping to take advantage." Thane theorized.

"Or maybe Doctor Chakwas has been hitting the Serrice Ice Brandy." Garrus shrugged. "It's her vacation too, you know."

Shepard didn't like speculating. And she suddenly felt like her civilian clothing—long-sleeved, black shirt and dark slacks weren't near enough to be wearing. "Something isn't right. I can feel it. And I'm unarmored."

Thane placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, but his smirk was anything but cheering. "And unarmed, Commander."

"With a hole in your stomach." Garrus added.

"With a distinct inability to walk without assistance." Thane agreed.

Shepard scoffed, almost tempted to stick her tongue out at them. "And only two snarky bastards to help me." She replied. "You see how much peril I'm in."

The three stared at each other, then began laughing. Thane cleared his throat into his fist as he let out a chuckle, but Garrus and Shepard were laughing loudly. The exertion made her abdomen ache slightly, as if she'd spent the whole day before doing nothing but sit-ups. She sucked in a breath and held it to keep from laughing more, but she couldn't help the grin across her face.

Gods, it felt like years since Shepard had simply smiled.

Shepard's comm. link beeped in her ear. Someone was trying to get a hold of her. She tapped her ear. "Yes?"

"_It's good to see you three are taking this so seriously. We were worried you might think this was a joke or something."_

"Kasumi. What's going on?"

A few yards behind Thane, the air began to shimmer. Kasumi turned off her cloaking device and made her way toward the three. She tugged her lavender hood in greeting and smirked at the three.

"Hello, Commander. I'd ask about your shopping escapade, but I bet you're wondering what's going on."

The unease of their previous situation came back to Kallie and her face fell. She was back into Commander Shepard mode. "Report."

"The Blue Suns know we're here." Kasumi jumped right into it. "EDI caught them scanning the ship and has been keeping surveillance on them. They're planning to ambush you on the way back to the _Normandy_."

"Do they know of her condition?" Thane inquired, standing straight and placing his hands behind him. Full-assassin mode, Kallie called this stance. He could slip in and out of his work face just as easily as she could.

Kasumi was shaking her head. "We don't think so, but it's not like we're able to keep that a secret. They're going to find out sooner or later. At the moment, though, things are quiet. It looks like a standard ambush."

"The Blue Suns aren't exactly known for thinking outside of their box." Garrus tapped his chin with a talon. "Is Zaeed aware of this?"

"We consulted him before I left." Kasumi replied, crossing her arms. "I wasn't about to come out here blind. Zaeed says that they aren't doing anything unusual, and Santiago isn't with them, so he could care less."

Yes, that sounded like Zaeed.

Shepard narrowed her bright green eyes in thought. Ideas flew through her mind rapidly, and she discarded each as she found any fatal flaws.

There was an ambush waiting for her. She was unarmed. Unarmored. And out of commission. If she could get her team back to the ship they would be fine. She was fairly certain the Blue Suns couldn't blast their way through the _Normandy_. Not only that, but the rest of her squad was there, and they'd make short work of the mercs. But it was too far away. In fact, the Blue Suns expected them to go back to the ship. Their trap probably lay somewhere between there and the ship. They might not make it to the ship without springing the trap.

So that wouldn't work. But, if they could get a hold of Bailey they'd be even better; he knew of her "condition" (Shepard scowled at the word, even as she heard it in Thane's voice in her head) and would send people to assist them immediately. Citadel Security could hold its ground against a tiny band of mercs, couldn't it? They'd probably love the break from routine.

But the Blue Suns would probably be listening for stray transmissions. That was why Chakwas was speaking cryptically. Anything said to Bailey over the comm. link would be picked up by the people they were trying to avoid. And she and Bailey weren't close enough to have any sort of code that she could think of.

So, help was not an option. Sneaking to the ship was not an option. This ambush was going to catch her and her teammates no matter what.

"Why not poke the thresher maw?" She thought aloud.

Her three squad members stared at her quizzically. She ignored them. In the midst of her rapid thoughts, a plan formed. She felt herself grin her predatory grin.

"Are you going to let us in on the joke?" Kasumi asked. "I hope it's a good one."

Kallie Shepard laughed, ignoring the twinge in her stomach. "Oh, it's a terrible idea. Absolutely nuts. Crazy."

"No offense, Shepard, but if you say 'so crazy it just might work', then I might resign right here." Garrus leaned on one leg.

Shepard staunchly ignored Thane's disapproving stare. "Okay, so it's not _that _crazy. But it's our best option."

Kasumi grinned. "Fantastic. Let's hear it."

**XXXXX**

Captain Bailey sat glued to his computer. His brow was furrowed in thought and he tapped out a few keys. Kaidan couldn't exactly see what he was staring at, so he decided it was best to let the man work.

Besides, he was locating Shepard for him, wasn't he? Kaidan wouldn't bother him if the Citadel was under attack.

Beside him, the drell shifted his weight and looked curiously at Kaidan. "So… how do you know the Commander?"

Bailey shook his head and chuckled. "Smooth, kid."

Kaidan glanced between the two. "We were in the military together. I was on her crew while she hunted down Saren."

"Well," Bailey propped his head up on a wrist and stared at the information on his screen. He wiped his brow with the other hand and actually looked impressed. "The woman is impossible to track. Her omnitool has so many scramblers and jams programmed into it that by the time I got through them all, she'd be gone."

Kaidan felt his high spirits fall. "So you're saying I'm going to have to go through the entire Citadel? That might take just as long. Can't you track the people she has with her?"

At this Bailey laughed. "No. She chooses her friends wisely. They're just as untraceable as she is." Then he smirked and looked at Kaidan. "Not to worry, though. I can track where she's been documented for the day." Bailey pressed a few more keys and nodded appreciatively. "She passed by here early this morning. I remember that because she stopped to talk while the kid and his father had a few words."

Kaidan wasn't sure what that meant. He ignored it, as well as the uncomfortable expression on the drell's face.

"After that it looks like they headed straight for the Embassies. They were logged in about ten minutes after leaving from here." Bailey continued. "Logged back out quite a few hours later. Then it looks like they went shopping."

Kaidan couldn't help a scoff. Kalisee Shepard, shopping? Was she held at gunpoint or something?

"Last shop they were at was the Sirta Foundation. After that there's nothing." Bailey checked his watch. "But that was only fifteen minutes ago. Chances are, they're heading back to their ship by now."

Kaidan nodded his head in thanks. "Then I'll meet them halfway. Thank you for your help."

The computer in front of Bailey beeped. He frowned. "Wait. What?"

Curiosity got the best of him. "What is it?" Kaidan asked.

"This computer just registered Commander Shepard entering the Donel Ward. But… that area is closed off." Bailey ran a hand through his dark blonde hair. "I hope she knows what she's doing."

Well, _that _certainly sounded like Shepard. "Tell me where that is."

**XXXXX**

Kalisee Shepard stared at her omnitool as it made a quick scan of the area. When it was sure they were alone, she disengaged it and looked around.

"All right," She said to the only figure left beside her. He stood next to her, covertly glancing around for unforeseen enemies. "I can handle things from here on out."

"Siha," Thane began. "I do not like this idea."

"Well, it's the only plausible one I had in the short time I was given." Shepard replied. She gave a covert glance around. "It's not so bad. They haven't even spotted us yet, and we don't have to worry about civilian casualties when this place section of the Citadel is barely inhabited."

"There is hardly any cover in this area. If this goes wrong and you're standing alone…."

She turned to face her final companion present and tugged on Thane's collar. "I'm aware of the danger. That's why I wanted you close." She gave him a small, genuine smile. "I feel much better about this knowing you're within sniper distance."

Thane stared at Shepard for many moments. He blinked a few times and finally "hummed" to himself. Then he leaned in and his hands clasped Shepard's face delicately. He pulled her close and brought their mouths together in a searing kiss.

Kallie's head began swimming as she instinctually relaxed. She let the crutches fall and she felt her back against metal. The hand she had at his collar gripped tighter and she pulled him closer. She felt a warmness in the pit of her stomach (which strangely wasn't throbbing as much anymore) and shivered as it grew and settled into her chest.

But they didn't have time for this. They had a trap to spring, and Thane was being awfully distracting, and his hands were on her face and her hair and her waist and how many hands did he have anyway?

Gods, but Thane could do this to her. And he knew it. Her stomach was starting to press on her again but she ignored it. There were more important things going on. Thane pressed closer and her mouth was open and she couldn't really form coherent thought at the moment and she was feeling awfully light-headed and—

And Thane pulled away. Shepard blinked at him, almost in confusion, before being brought back down to reality. Thane caressed her cheek gently with a hand before withdrawing from her.

"I apologize, _siha_." Thane stated. "I had not meant to…."

Shepard bit her lower lip. She could see the walls shifting. She was fairly sure they weren't supposed to be orange, either. Wait, now they were purple. Now red.

Oh dear.

"No worries." Shepard waved a hand in the air with more force than she meant to. "This actually works out better. Disoriented _and _crippled. I'll look like I took too many painkillers."

"You're certain?" Thane seemed genuinely concerned.

"Very." Shepard shook her head to make the world stop spinning. "My thinking isn't impaired. I can just… see things. It'll go away soon. Probably before I even meet anyone else."

"I apologize, _siha_." He repeated as he reached down for her crutches and handed them to her. "You have a rather inexplicable talent of making my control slip."

Shepard smirked. "Do I? Guess I'll have to experiment with that."

Thane's eyes darkened and he looked like he would about to make another grab for her. But he stepped away. Shepard only felt a small pang of regret before she gave a tiny salute to her assassin and swung away on her crutches.

Behind her, Shepard could hear Thane murmuring his prayers before disappearing into the shadows. Even though this was ritual for him, she couldn't help but feel happy that he was praying over her.

Before she continued down the hallway alone, she tucked the pistol she'd swiped from Thane into her waistline and pulled her shirt over it.

**XXXXX**

"Well, this is just great!" Shepard cried aloud. She groaned and knocked her crutches into the wall. "I've gone and gotten myself lost. Who gets lost on the fraking Citadel?"

Kallie made a point of checking her omnitool for directions. As she did, she made a quick sweep of the area for others following her. Sure enough, the five or so dots on her arm that had been following her for the last ten minutes were still behind her.

Well, at least the walls had stopped spinning. She wasn't sure how she was going to fight when things were constantly changing color and spinning. Maybe she should cut down on her… intimate time with Thane before a mission. Or an ambush. Or…

Who was she kidding? She was probably going to goad Thane into kissing her again before they even got back to the ship.

Shepard looked around as if trying to orientate herself and her map. She glanced up at the catwalks above her for any signs or directions at all and huffed. Of _course _she had to pass through the one part of the Citadel that was unmarked. At least it was mostly unpopulated.

She shrugged, as if she'd finally picked a direction, and swung herself down a dark, ominous alley.

She only made it halfway down before she met someone.

"Excuse me!" She called to the tall man in dark blue armor. The man turned to face her, and she stopped about twenty feet from him. "I was wondering if you could help me. I'm a little lost."

The man grinned. "Of course, Commander Shepard." He reached behind his back and pulled out a shotgun. "I'd _love _to help you."

Shepard paled. Whoops. "I'm guessing you're not maintenance then."

"Security."

"Mhmm."

Behind them, the five or six marks she'd been tracking on her omnitool turned into actual people. They stood in a line, guns drawn, staring expectantly at Shepard.

"Okay, I've got to ask the one question everyone's thinking." Shepard brushed her dark red hair behind her ear. "Do you often mug cripples?"

"Only the ones who continuously cause trouble." Said one of the mercs behind her. Shepard scoffed.

The one man standing in front of her took it as a sign of fear and continued speaking. "Any last words, Commander Shepard?"

Oh, good. Shepard always liked this question. "Cucumber. Bagel. Squash. Couscous, ramen, falafel, caviar, umm…."

Someone behind her laughed.

The man pointing the shotgun at her looked disgusted. "_What_?"

"I'm very hungry."

"Stop screwing around!" The man jerked his gun sharply. He snarled, his pearly white teeth glistening at her. Shepard stood her ground. "You've caused the Blue Suns no end of trouble, and now you're going to pay for it."

"You don't think I can take you?"

The man laughed spitefully. "What are you going to do? Throw your crutches at me?"

Shepard snorted. "I bet you'll die before you ever pull the trigger."

The Blue Suns merc took careful aim with his shotgun as he let out a chuckle. "I'd like to see you try."

"How we gonna do this, boss?" Asked one of the men behind her.

The merc in front of her grinned maliciously. "We weren't told _how _to kill her. Just that we should. Incapacitate her, and then we'll—"

Shepard saw the Blue Suns merc's head explode before she even heard the shot. The merc's body hit the ground and all hell broke loose.

Kallie let one of her crutches drop as she pulled out her pistol and began firing at the remaining mercs; after the first few seconds of total shock they realized their ambush had gone totally wrong and started firing wildly at Shepard. Thane dropped in behind them and began drawing their attention away from Shepard.

Shepard heard someone shuffle behind her and turned to find more Blue Suns surrounding them. She fired a few rounds at them as she tried to shuffle herself into cover. One of them hit the ground as a bullet flew through his brain. Shepard heard Garrus cry out in triumph from the catwalk above and reload.

Shepard took careful aim with her omnitool and a tossed a tiny ball of flame into the mass of Blue Suns. The mercs all dove for cover, giving Shepard enough time to take aim and shoot a merc down.

Kasumi came into focus beside Shepard. "Nice day for a firefight, isn't it?"

"Never a dull moment, that's for sure."

Kasumi cloaked herself and disappeared with a salute. Shepard popped the thermal clip out of her pistol and reloaded it quickly.

The fight was soon over. Shepard's team had been outnumbered, but they'd ended up with surprise on their side. Soon the gunfire quieted down, and Shepard's crutch was being handed to her.

"You dropped this, Commander." Garrus admonished.

Shepard took it back sheepishly and shifted her weight back onto it. "It was getting in the way. It's hard to fire correctly when you're leaning on your armpit."

"Are you injured, Commander?" Thane asked as he returned to the group. He circled around her, checking her over even as she replied.

"They got close a few times, but I think they were too preoccupied to shoot at me. We didn't exactly give them enough time to take a head count."

Thane nodded, seemingly satisfied that Shepard wasn't bluffing. "We should return to the ship before the Blue Suns realize their attack failed."

Shepard agreed. "Let's get a move on. Garrus, I need you to—"

Footsteps were heard down the alleyway behind them. They were getting closer. Kasumi, Garrus, and Thane spun around, guns drawn. Kallie turned slowly so she wouldn't trip over her own crutches. Thane stepped discreetly in front of her as a shadow appeared on the ground farther along the alley. Shepard took a quick look at it: human-shaped, male stature, gun in hand and ready for combat.

"We know you're there." Shepard called out. "So come out slowly and we won't shoot you."

The footsteps halted. The shadow stilled. A man stepped out from behind the corner with his hands at his sides and slowly moved forward.

"I heard gunfire. Is everything okay?" The man asked.

Shepard knew that voice. Her mouth dropped open in blatant surprise. She stood stock-still, and for once in her life, she couldn't think of a single thing to say.

Garrus groaned. Shepard couldn't see him, but she could hear the annoyance in his voice. "Of course. Of _course _it's you."

"Hello to you too, Garrus."

"Put your guns down." Kallie ordered. She stepped out from behind Thane and stared at her old friend, confused.

"Kaidan?"

**XXXXX**

**I continued this story because I don't think it breaks cannon. :) Do with it what you will! Please review, and I'll see how I do with pulling out the next chapter soon.**

**Also, I apologize for the two-year hiatus. I'm trying to make up for it. Until next time!**

_**Amme Moto**_


	3. Truce

**Saving Face**

**Chapter 3: Truce**

"You're in civilian clothes," was the first thing Kaidan pointed out. He let his eyes wander over what wasn't being shielded behind Thane, and he did that one-sided smirk that meant something was unexpected but pleasing. "I like it."

Shepard found she couldn't say anything at first. It'd been months since Kallie Shepard had seen Kaidan. They'd ended on such a bad note, and then she'd cut what broken ties they had left before the suicide mission, that she didn't think she'd see him again.

And there he was: tell-tale smirk in place, eyes bright and watching her, dark hair smoothed back and perfectly in place. He looked exactly the same as he had on Horizon, save for the snarl he'd had back then.

The memory of Horizon made her clam up. She felt her muscles instinctively tense and her face become stony. She straightened as well as she could on her crutches and took a deep breath to keep the black tinges around her eyesight at bay.

She moved around Thane and stepped forward a few paces, dragging herself along on her crutches. "Kaidan, what are you doing here?"

Kaidan's eyes dropped to Shepard's crutches and whatever he'd been about to say was swallowed in favor of more pertinent questions. "You're _hurt_, Shepard!" He called, kicking lightly at a dead body next to his armored foot. "And you were just in a firefight?"

Kallie ignored the question. "What are you doing here?"

Her old friend gritted his teeth. "I'm looking for you. I need to talk to you."

"A message wouldn't have been good enough?" Shepard asked.

"And how was I supposed to know if you were alive or not?" Kaidan snapped. Shepard could hear the frustration in his voice. She saw him bite back more words and sighed.

Great. Reunited for all of thirty seconds and they'd already annoyed each other. This wasn't getting them anywhere.

"All right, let's talk. But not now. How about tomorrow at Chadessa's Café?"

Kaidan narrowed his brown eyes in thought and shook his head. "I'm not falling for that, Shepard. If I agree to see you tomorrow, you'll be gone before the night cycle."

"_What?_" Did he really think she would bail on him? Just because she did that to people she really had no interest in speaking to didn't mean she'd to it to him. He was _Kaidan_, after all. Who did he think she was, anyway? "You really think I would do that to you?"

Kaidan ran a hand through his hair, like he always did when things weren't going the way he'd planned. Not a single hair looked misplaced. "I—okay, that was unfair of me. I'm sorry."

All of the irritation in Shepard seemed to dissipate when she saw that Kaidan was floundering just as much as she was. She was about to reply when Garrus interrupted her.

"Commander, we need to leave before more Blue Suns show up." Garrus broke the uneasy silence.

Shepard could feel Thane tugging on her sleeve again. He was ready to leave.

She sighed. "He's right. We need to get back to the _Normandy._" She glanced around, then down at her omnitool to check for advancing mercs. None as of yet, but it wouldn't take them long to realize that their ambush was eerily quiet.

She needed to clear her squad out and get back to the _Normandy_. But she couldn't just leave Kaidan hanging. So….

"Come with us."

She could feel Thane tense from behind her. It was imperceptible to most people, but Shepard had always had an affinity to Thane's body language. He was uncomfortable with allowing Kaidan on the ship.

That was understandable. She'd told Thane about Kaidan and herself long before she and the drell had decided they were a bit too close for friendship. It was part of the reason why she never slept, and curiosity had driven Thane to eventually ask why she kept prowling the ship during the ship's night cycle. A few days later she'd come clean with him about almost everything.

She realized he might not be too welcoming of the man who ended up sending her over the edge of her already-overwhelming stress, but Kaidan really looked like he needed to talk, talk _now_, and they needed to leave quickly.

"_Commander," _Shepard's comm. link buzzed with EDI's voice. _"I am monitoring Blue Suns information channels. They are becoming suspicious that they haven't heard back from their strike team."_

"If we're going to go, we need to leave soon." Kasumi added. "They're onto us."

Shepard glanced back at Thane, her bright green eyes boring into his, apologizing for putting him in the position they were about to be in. Thane stared calmly back. Shepard saw what she expected, disagreement, distrust, and _something else _that looked akin to worry, but in a different way. Shepard couldn't put her finger on it. Finally, Thane gave a small, imperceptible nod, showing he was going to go along with her. Then he turned his gaze onto Kaidan and hardened his look, like he wasn't going to take any nonsense from the human. Shepard got the feeling that Thane had been staring at Kaidan like that the whole time.

"Come with us." Shepard repeated. "You haven't seen the _Normandy SR-2._ And it'll be safe from angry Blue Suns while we… talk."

**XXXXX**

Kaidan considered the offer. It was tempting. And it seemed like Shepard was taking a huge step in asking him aboard. He'd seen her three squad mates' looks when she'd offered the first time. Garrus' eyes widened and he stared at Shepard as if she were crazy. He couldn't see the hooded figure's whole face, but he could see her mouth drop slightly in surprise. He guessed that Shepard didn't allow a lot of outsiders on their ship.

But the third man, the drell who had been trying his best to look emotionless during this whole exchange (Kaidan had seen the glares underneath, however; he was too well trained to not notice), took hold of Shepard's sleeve, almost imperceptibly, and his mask dropped completely into a hardened, impassable look. Kaidan guessed that this drell held the most sway with Shepard, and he did not agree with her idea of allowing him on the ship.

Shepard's team began talking amongst themselves while Shepard listened to everyone and took stock of her options. This gave Kaidan a moment to really look her over. Her dark red hair had grown past her shoulders since they'd met back on Horizon, and it was starting to curl ever so slightly at the tip ends. It was a very nice look.

Her face was guarded at the moment, as it always was when Shepard was working, or faced with something unexpected. She had a wicked sense of humor, he remembered, and no one was safe from her joking when she was in a good mood, but as soon as another emergency came up, or the Alliance called her for help, or another trace of Saren had been found, the humor was gone and that mask came back. After Ashley was killed on Virmire, Shepard had gone through a very long phase where all she did was wear the mask. She did not stop talking to people, or completely shut herself away, because that's not what the Alliance needed of her. But she stopped smiling. Kaidan didn't think she'd smiled again until they'd retrieved her from the hospital after defeating Saren. That had been her "I told you we could win!" smile. Kaidan missed her smiles.

As he had stated before, Shepard's civilian clothes looked very attractive. They were long-sleeved, which was not usual for Shepard, as she didn't like people staring at her scars, and dark, so they made her harder to see in poorly lit areas. He could tell that she was uncomfortable being in public without her armor on, but she was handling it well. The Shepard he'd known before would have just stayed on the ship until she was well enough to wear what she wanted.

Which brought Kaidan's mind back to Shepard's condition. Her arms grasped tightly onto the crutches underneath her, trying to hold her own weight up. What had happened to injure her to such an extent? Why had she willingly gone into a firefight in an alley with little to no cover, wearing no armor, and using only a pistol?

Kaidan was brought out of his own thoughts as the drell's gaze shifted from himself to Shepard. She was staring intently back at the green-scaled man. For what seemed like years the two stared only at each other, communicating on some level that he and Shepard never had. Finally, the drell narrowed his eyes and turned his gaze back to Kaidan, his glare still muted but intensified.

Something had passed between the two that no one else was privy to. It did _not _irritate Kaidan.

"Come with us." Shepard restated her offer. "You haven't seen the _Normandy SR-2._ And it'll be safe from angry Blue Suns while we… talk."

Kaidan didn't know if he wanted to accept. He was on shore leave; there wasn't a chance of repercussions from the military for him boarding a Cerberus vessel on his own time. Still, he had standards, and Cerberus was definitely below his standards.

And yet, it was Shepard, and after all he'd said and done to her on Horizon, she was throwing him this bone. He didn't want to pass it up.

"That sounds nice." He replied. "Why are the Blue Suns after you?"

Kalisee Shepard rolled her eyes, something Kaidan had never seen her do before. "I'll explain on the way. Come on." She turned to the hooded figure. "Kasumi, run ahead of us and scan for more hostiles, just in case. When you get back to the ship, inform everyone of our guest, and make the required arrangements, please."

Required arrangements?

The hooded figure—Kasumi—stood still for a moment, then nodded. "Sure thing, Commander." Then she disappeared from sight as her cloaking device went off.

**XXXXX**

Shepard waited a few moments to head out after Kasumi left. She wanted to give the thief time to hide Legion and tell EDI to stay quiet. Kaidan was making a huge leap of faith by boarding a Cerberus vessel, she realized. It would be entirely too much for him to find out they had a self-thinking geth wandering freely about the ship and an unshackled AI _controlling _the ship. She hadn't even told Anderson about that.

It also might not go over well if he discovered one of their teammates was a powerful biotic and a convicted killer with numerous other counts against her. Or that one was a merciless mercenary who was the cofounder of the Blue Suns. Or if… hmm…

Maybe having Kaidan come about wasn't such a good idea.

As they made their way back to the Zakera Ward, Thane and Garrus made regular sweeps of the area, checking for any straggling mercs. They kept close to their unarmored commander, which both irked her and almost made her smile with how protective they were being. It had been a long time since she'd had true friends willing to do that for her.

Kaidan walked slightly behind the three, but next to Shepard as they continued walking. Shepard didn't mind; she was sort of glad they were on speaking terms again. Her last letter to him had been as kindly-worded as she could make it, but under the strain of almost certain death for her and the entire crew of the _Normandy_, she might have been a little harsh all the same. She'd been worried that he might have taken offense to some of the things she'd said about the Alliance, and how willing she was to switch sides if the other side presented a better case for saving the galaxy.

But he was here, wasn't he? Even after that loud, snarling argument they'd had on Horizon, he'd taken the time to look for her. For whatever reason, he was back at her side, and they weren't at each other's throats anymore. For now.

And he wanted to talk about something. Kallie thought she had a good idea of what, too, and it made her uncomfortable. It made Thane uncomfortable, too, she knew. When he wasn't scouting the surrounding area, he was on Shepard's other side, watching her for signs that she was going to fall, and being just as stressed out as she was.

Not that Garrus was any better. His respect for Kaidan had plummeted and altogether extinguished after the argument he'd witnessed on Horizon. If there was one thing Garrus couldn't tolerate, it was betrayal, and Kaidan's flat-out refusal to listen to their side of the story, coupled with his paranoia of Cerberus and his relentless use of the words "traitor" and "betrayed" in reference to Shepard was more than enough evidence for Garrus to completely disregard Kaidan in any way. He spent his time glaring intensely at Kaidan on their way back to the ship.

Shepard could practically feel the waves of tension surrounding the group. This might be harder than she had previously thought.

As they finally arrived at the C-Sec checkpoint at the Zakera Ward, Shepard waved down Captain Bailey. The man looked up and gave a small wave back. Then his glance caught Kaidan and he grinned.

"Commander," Bailey nodded his respects as he caught up to them. "I see the major finally found you."

Shepard blinked. "Come again?"

Kaidan chuckled nervously. "I stopped here first when I was looking for you. I asked Captain Bailey to try and track you."

At this Shepard let out an incredulous laugh. "And how did _that _go?"

"Your omnitool is an impressive thing, Commander Shepard." Captain Bailey replied. "I don't suppose it would do any good to tell you that it's illegal to have quite a few of those firewalls and jammers active while on the Citadel, would it?"

"Not to a Spectre, no." Kallie replied. Still, they had to have _some _semblance of where she was if Kaidan could find her in an abandoned ward. The thought of being traceable when she didn't want to be was unnerving. "How did you find me?"

Bailey considered for a second. "I suppose you'll find out anyway." He finally said. "There are security checkpoints between each of the wards; silent alarms that check who goes through which ward when. Receipts at stores are also traceable to which store and what time the purchase was made."

Shepard nodded thoughtfully. Checkpoints would be easy to ghost through. They scan omnitools for biosignals of the person using the checkpoint. Shepard could just change her biosignal for her own omnitool. Or better yet, she could ask Tali to create a program that could switch the biosignal on and off depending on proximity to checkpoints, just in case Shepard was ever in need of her biosignal. They came in handy sometimes.

The store tracking was more difficult. Shepard can't hack into every store she shops at and change her own records; it would take too much time and effort just to buy things. She'd have to think more on that one later.

"Next time you want to get a hold of me, why not radio?" She asked. "Our shortwave frequency is 47.2 beta."

Bailey nodded. "Will do, ma'am. Thank you for your support. You're a hard lady to track."

"Captain, I was wondering if—" Kolyat came from around the corner and stopped short as he stared at the squad. His eyes wandered from Commander Shepard, to Kaidan, then to his father beside them.

"Kolyat." Thane acknowledged with a nod.

The nod was returned, somewhat curtly. "Father." Thane's son made his way to the group and handed off the datapad he was holding to Captain Bailey. "I was beginning to wonder if you were going to make it."

Shepard frowned. What? Make it to wh—

And then she remembered. She'd been so nervous about speaking with Anderson again, and then with the shopping and the ambush, she completely forgot. Oh, she could have smacked herself in the head.

Thane and Kolyat had made tentative plans when they set out that morning to get together for dinner and try to have a face-to-face talk.

Thane looked pained. Shepard guessed he had forgotten, as well. "I apologize, Kolyat. Unexpected events arose, and we were forced to deviate from our plan."

Kolyat's gaze dropped, and Kallie's spirit fell at the boy's disappointed look. "I see. So we're not going."

"Of course you're going."

Shepard's eyes widened as she realized that she was the one who'd spoken. Both drell looked squarely at her. Sure, she felt terrible for butting into something that didn't involve her in the slightest, but she was _not _going to let Thane ruin his one chance with his son because of her. "It was my fault. I'm sorry. We were on our way back quite a while ago when we were ambushed by the Blue Suns in the Donel Ward. The fight went on longer than usual because, well…." She looked down at her crutches and back up.

Bailey interrupted at this point. "The Blue Suns made an all-out attack on the Citadel? I'll need the details. I'll need to file a report." The man rubbed his head. "This is going to be a lot of paperwork. Commander, I'm going to have to ask you to stay for a while."

Shepard glanced at Kaidan, who was watching the whole event unfold with rapt attention. She truly didn't want to leave him hanging after she'd promised him they could talk on the ship.

Before she could politely refuse the captain, Garrus spoke for her. "Commander Shepard has been out for quite some time today, Captain Bailey." he stated. "How about if _I _give you the details, and we leave the Commander to rest?"

Shepard sent a grateful took to Garrus, who nodded in reply.

Bailey thought about the proposition. "That'll work. Now, I need you to come with me and start at the beginning." He motioned for Garrus to follow him and left into his office.

Garrus turned to Shepard, then lightly tossed the package holding Shepard's armor to Kaidan. Kaidan _oofed_ with the unexpected weight, but held it up eventually. "This better be worth it, Commander."

"Thanks, Garrus. I owe you one." Shepard clasped hands with Garrus. "Don't stay out too late."

Garrus gave a mock salute and trailed off after Bailey.

"Were you really attacked by the Blue Suns?" Kolyat asked.

"They planned an ambush for us on our way back to the _Normandy_." Thane replied. "We were alerted to their presence before they made contact, however, so we were able to defeat them."

"We need to return to the ship and change into something more presentable." Shepard added. "Thane will be back in half an hour."

Thane sent her that same look she couldn't quite identify. If she had to guess, she would say he was annoyed. She ignored it, and the nagging feeling that she was messing in someone else's business. She was doing this for his own good. She knew what it was like to lose family members. Hell, she'd lost all of hers in one day. She wasn't going to let him lose another of his, even if it was under different circumstances.

"Thank you, Commander." Kolyat bowed his head politely. He turned to Thane and gave him the same nod. "I will see you in one half hour."

Shepard nodded back to the boy and continued swinging on her struts. She figured Thane was probably irritated with her for interfering, and it made her feel bad. So it was only _slightly _an accident when she slipped on her crutches and nearly hit the ground. Thane caught her before she could fall, and held her to his chest while she took longer than usual to find her footing.

**XXXXX**

When they finally entered the ship, Kaidan could only stare in awe at the reconstructed interior that surrounded him.

To his right as he exited the airlock, Kaidan could see the CIC. It was almost exactly the same, save a few minor differences, like the lighting and the placement of computers. To his left was the cockpit, where he could see Joker tapping away at the console.

Joker whirled around in his seat as the airlock opened and dragged himself up. He staggered over to Kaidan with his arms spread wide and a grin on his face.

"Hey, it's Kaidan!" He reached Kaidan and shook his hand enthusiastically. "How've you been? What are you doing here?" He glanced down at the large package Kaidan was having trouble lifting. "And _what _are you carrying? You didn't bring a Blue Sun body back with you, did you? Because we can't keep spacing bodies. People will start to notice."

"Oh, you know, I'm just stopping by." Kaidan shrugged. "I thought I'd say hello while I was here."

"Oh, I see! And the body bag?"

"He's holding my new armor, Joker." Shepard replied. "But we can take that from him, now. I should put it back in my quarters."

The drell leaned forward and took the armor package from Kaidan's arms.

"Kaidan, we can show you to the mess hall if you like." Shepard offered.

Kaidan shook his head. "I think I remember the way. Down the stairs, right?"

Shepard let out a quiet chuckle, but Joker laughed out loud. "Stairs are _so _two and a half years ago. We have these things called elevators now."

Ah, so a lot of this place _was _revamped. He probably had no idea where anything was anymore.

He scratched at the back of his head sheepishly. "Yeah, I guess I could use a tour guide."

"Great! I'll take him." Joker offered.

Shepard looked at her pilot with blatant surprise. "_You, _Joker? Are you sure?"

"Sure, I'm sure." Joker tipped his cap politely. "I need my exercise for the day. And my co-pilot is taking a lunch break." He looked at the time on one of his consoles. "Er, dinner break. We'll be fine. No need to interrupt anything. You and Thane go put your armor up. We'll be bugging Gardner for some grub. Of the edible kind."

Shepard shrugged. "All right, if you're sure." She turned to Kaidan and gave him a slightly perplexed smile. "I'll be down in a minute." Then shuffled off down the CIC, the drell—Thane, was that his name?—following closely.

As soon as they were out of sight, Joker hit Kaidan in the arm as hard as he could.

"_Ow!_" Kaidan cried incredulously. He rubbed his arm.

"That was for Horizon." Joker growled, his face set in a stony look.

Kaidan winced as his arm throbbed. "Okay, so I might have deserved that."

Joker smirked at this reply. "So long as we're both in agreement about that, we'll get along just fine." He grabbed a hold of the rail leading around the CIC and trudged along. "On your left you'll see a bunch of important-looking computers. I'm sure they do something, but since I've never touched one, they're just fun blinky lights.

"As we pass through the CIC you might notice a few things: one, that one pillar that used to hold up _this _end of the room is bent up and leaning across the galaxy map. Two, there are quite a lot of things sparking in here. Don't worry about that. Just… don't look directly at it.

"Now, follow me and we'll head into the science lab, where we will hear a salarian genius yell half-sentences at us at unheard-of speeds when we touch his equipment!"

**XXXXX**

Thane was eerily quiet as the elevator brought them up to Shepard's quarters. Shepard shuffled from foot to foot as the uneasy silence reigned. Something was irking both of them, and neither one wanted to be the first to bring it up.

The elevator doors finally opened to her quarters and Shepard swung herself out. She threw her crutches on the bed, removed her gloves—which was a common ritual for her upon returning to the ship—and opened her armor drawer.

Thane set the package on the bed and unwrapped it carefully. Shepard pulled out the chest piece and laid it delicately in place. Thane handed her another piece, which she settled into the drawer. It only took them a minute to pack the armor up, and they did it in total silence.

Shepard's abdomen was bothering her, but she wasn't going to let Thane know that. She turned to face him and leaned up against the dresser. Thane crossed his arms and studied her.

There was another uneasy silence as the two faced off with each other. Shepard knew she should apologize for interfering. She'd just been so worried that Thane was going to lose Kolyat. He'd already lost his wife, long before, and his son was all he had now. Still, she stayed silent.

Thane spoke first. "How are you feeling?"

Shepard frowned at the nonchalant question. "I'm fine. What does that have to do with anything?"

"I will be gone for a few hours. I don't wish for you to overexert yourself. Perhaps you should rest." Thane replied.

"I'm just talking to Kaidan. I'll probably be sitting down the whole time. There's nothing to worry about."

Thane cocked his head and narrowed his eyes. He was trying to find the right choice of words for what he was about to say. Shepard let him think through his thoughts while she gathered her own.

This was slightly perplexing to the Commander. She'd interfered between him and his son, and he was more worried about how she was _feeling_?

"Thane, what's wrong?" She asked. "I'm sorry about before, if that's what this is about."

"What do you mean?" Thane asked, his face now matching hers in perplexity. "What do you need to apologize for?"

"What?" Thane didn't know what she was talking about. So, he _wasn't _upset with her for her interference? "Then what's the problem?"

Her drell looked pained as he finally came out and said what he wanted to say. "I do not trust Major Alenko."

And suddenly it made sense.

She really should have seen this before, with all the glares Thane was sending Kaidan's way. She assumed he was being protective, which was nothing new in their case. They were both very protective of the other; it was part of what made them such a good team.

She'd assumed that Thane was thinking of all the retellings she was sure the other crewmates had told him about Horizon, and the dispute Kaidan and Shepard had been in. She certainly had been. After all, that had been one of the last things to happen to her before her stress started getting the better of her. Not to mention he'd been present at her shouting match with Councilor Anderson, where they'd discussed Kaidan at length, as well as a few other things.

She'd seen those glances that were unknown to her, and hadn't given them a second thought. She had a name to go with that look now: apprehension.

But this was something different. Something she honestly hadn't expected, but probably should have.

"Thane," Shepard started, closing the distance between them and laying a hand on his arm. "You're not—" She stopped herself, looking for the right word. _Jealous _was too childish. "You're not worried I'm going to take him back, are you?"

Thane didn't move, but Shepard could tell she'd hit the problem on the head. She let out a relieved sigh and rested her head on his shoulder. "_That's _what this is? I thought you were angry with me because I butted in between you and Kolyat."

At these words Kallie felt Thane's arms wrap tightly around her, bringing their bodies closer together and leaving her warmer than before. She felt one of Thane's hands tugging through her hair—something he always liked to do.

"_Siha_, I would never be angry at your interference." He replied. "You helped me _find _him. Your interest in how my relationship is with my son is most welcome."

Shepard couldn't help but grin at these words. Every time she had Thane pegged to react one way toward her, he instead chose a simpler, more pleasant reaction. It was part of the reason she liked him so much.

But they still had something else to address. Shepard pulled out of Thane's arms and stood back from him a little. She ran a hand down his dark sleeve and clasped his hand, bringing it up between them and studying it intensely as she spoke.

"I'm not going to leave you." She stated.

"_Siha, _do not—"

"I'm _not_."

Thane closed his mouth and covered her hands with his. Shepard knew that look. He was not agreeing with her. He was simply conceding the point. Thane didn't want to argue with her, either.

"Very well, Shepard." His placating tone almost made Shepard's hackles rise. She resisted the urge to snap at him for trying to pacify her instead of talking it out. "I should get ready to meet Kolyat."

Shepard swallowed her stinging thoughts and nodded. She decided that they would address this issue as soon as they were both free. Then she wrapped her arms around her drell's neck and pulled him close.

Thane's arms wrapped around her waist and she felt his breath on her neck. They stood there in a tense silence for a few moments, simply feeding off of each others' warmth.

"Stay safe, _siha_." Thane murmured into her skin. "I'll be back soon."

Kallie Shepard clung closer to him.

**XXXXX**

Kaidan sat inside the mess hall across from Joker, picking at some sort of asari jambalaya that had been placed in front of him by the cook. He had to admit that it was very tasty; he hadn't expected any food made on a spaceship to be that interesting. The cook seemed glad of the surprised compliments Kaidan had thrown his way.

He also gave a very warm "hello" to Doctor Chakwas as she burst from the medbay. She'd placed a hand on his shoulder and grinned like she was greeting an old friend. Kaidan was happy that someone hadn't met him with a glare before moving on to something else. When she finally made her way back into her medbay, Kaidan was in a much better mood and a lot less tense than he'd been before.

He very pointedly ignored the number of eyes staring at him.

He hadn't seen any other crew members, but he could feel the stares. He knew Shepard would have a team built specifically for going with her on missions, but aside from the three he'd met in Donel Ward, and the crazy salarian doctor who had yelled at Joker and tried to set his shirt on fire when he touched the crazy alien's things, he hadn't seen anyone else. His guess was that they were avoiding him, whether because he knew them, or they preferred to remain anonymous, he didn't know. But it was very creepy.

Before he could mention the watching eyes to Joker, the elevator doors opened and Shepard came bolting out, tugging at her gloves absentmindedly. She was distinctly without her crutches, which made Kaidan think that she only had to use them in public. She caught sight of Kaidan and made a beeline for their table. Her drell friend followed behind much slower, and continued on down the hallway, disappearing into another room and closing the door.

"Sorry that took so long." Kallie stated as she took a seat next to Joker. She crossed her arms together and looked around. "Anyone give you trouble?"

"I haven't met many of the people on your ship." Kaidan replied honestly, folding his arms together and resting them on the table. "They're all in hiding."

Shepard smirked and cocked an eyebrow. "I see. Well, no one better be caught eavesdropping," She projected her voice so it radiated out to the entire deck. "Or we might have some new volunteers for cleanup crew."

The eerie feeling of being watched vanished, and Kaidan distinctly heard the sound of several doors closing.

Joker laughed. "Gotta love the threat of cleaning up after someone else's mess." He stood and reached over to clap Kaidan on the back. "Well, someone's got to fly this ship, and my co-pilot is going to be out of commission for a while."

Kaidan felt his eyebrows rise up before he could stop them. "You're docked on the Citadel. Where would you be piloting to?"

Either Joker didn't hear the question or ignored it, because he stretched and waved a hand as he staggered backward toward the elevators. "I'll talk to you later, Kaidan!"

Joker wasn't looking where he was going, and ended up bumping into the drell as he was attempting to make a quiet escape from his rooms.

"Whoa, sorry there, Thane. Didn't see you there." Joker apologized.

Thane grabbed hold of Joker's shoulders to hold the man up right. When he was sure the pilot had his own balance back he let go. "Not a problem. Humans don't have all-around vision. That must be why they usually face where they're walking."

"Oh, ha-ha." Joker drawled. He gave one last wave to Shepard and Kaidan before entering the elevator.

Thane stopped for a moment to stare at the Commander. Something passed between the two of them again that was lost on Kaidan. He felt like banging his head against the table to maybe break someone's concentration, but before he could the drell broke eye contact and pushed his way toward the elevators.

In a rush of movement that Kaidan wasn't sure Shepard should be making, the redheaded woman leapt up from her chair and took a few steps forward.

"Thane."

She needn't have called out. As soon as she came out of her seat the drell's attention was focused on her. He turned back toward her and watched her intently.

Kalisee Shepard seemed to be struggling to find the right words to say. Kaidan had never seen anything like it. He'd only seen her speechless once before, when Udina had locked their ship onto the Citadel and they couldn't go anywhere, but that was only because she was trying to reign in her rage. This was different. Kallie wanted to say something to him privately, but couldn't find the words to convey what she meant.

Kaidan wondered what had happened between the two.

Shepard leaned on one leg and cocked her head to the side. It was a casual stance, Kaidan remembered. He watched her give a small smile (when did Shepard ever _smile_? Even when they were together she'd never given that sort of smile….) and finally speak.

"I'll be here when you get back."

Kaidan could feel his irritation gathering when Thane's almost pitch black eyes widened slightly. The scaly, green-skinned drell nodded and finally entered the elevator. Kaidan could hear Joker's grateful "Finally!" as the doors closed, and Thane was at last gone.

Kalisee Shepard took a deep breath and turned to Kaidan. "We'll be spied on less if we move to an observation room. There's even a bar in one of them."

Kaidan felt himself smile at his old friend. Alcohol and alone time. He liked the sound of that.

**XXXXX**

**So I was halfway through writing this chapter when a brand new idea smacked me in the face. I couldn't leave it alone, so to incorporate it I had to delete half of what I'd already written and start over. And it's going to lengthen the story a little bit.**

**Until next time!**

_**Amme Moto**_


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